


you’re the universe i’m helpless in

by mermistia



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Alien AU, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, im so bad at tagging things i want to death, more riverway bitch bc what else would i write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-16 13:44:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21037181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mermistia/pseuds/mermistia
Summary: River hadn’t been expecting to fall for the alien crashing on his couch.And yet, here they are.





	you’re the universe i’m helpless in

**Author's Note:**

> no one:  
absolutely no one:  
squipscord: ly says peanut butter rights

Ly is hugging him. 

River isn’t sure how to react at first, standing frozen in the middle of the room with Ly’s arms wrapped tight around him. It’s sudden and strange and disturbingly _human,_ but he lifts his hands and hugs Ly back all the same, patting their back a little awkwardly. “This is, uh- nice.”

Ly pulls away, rocking backwards on the balls of their feet a little, a happy smile overtaking their face as they pull the fabric in their hands closer to them, burying themself into it and staring at River with shining eyes over the layers of cloth. “It is! I can’t believe you got this for me!”

“So, do you like it?”

Ly nods almost immediately, pulling the hoodie over their head and pushing their arms through the sleeves in a few quick movements, and River’s heart leaps when he sees their head poke through the collar, their eyes lit up an excited bright blue. The freckles dotted across their cheeks and nose glow too, matching their eyes with the soft light. “I love it!”

River smiles, letting out a breath that he didn’t realise he’d been holding. “I’m glad.”

“It reminds me of you!” Ly’s cheeks glow a little brighter, burning with the colour before dimming down again as they bite their lip to push back a wide smile. “It’s warm. And... comfy. Like you.”

“You think I’m... _comfy?_” River can’t help but raise his eyebrows at the strange compliment, so unusual and kind and so incredibly _Lyceum,_ and he holds back laughter as they hug him again, pressing their face deep into his chest and letting out a happy sigh. They’re so small compared to him, small enough for him to rest his chin in their mass of hair (careful as always not to knock their antennae) and he rolls his eyes as they shake him a little, asking for their show of affection to be returned. 

“Very comfy,” Ly says, and River hears their fingers snap behind his back. A wave of blue washes over them both, coating them from head to toe in light, and River lets out a strangled sound of surprise as his feet leave the floor, Ly still holding tightly to his waist. 

“Lyceum!”

“River!” Ly mocks, sending them spinning through the air. They grin against River’s chest, balling their fists into the material of his shirt as they float above the coffee table, River clinging tightly to Ly’s waist, wrapping his legs around theirs. 

“Don’t drop me!”

Ly laughs. “We aren’t that high up. It’s like... a metre. I’m sure you’d survive.”

“Not the point!”

Ly laughs again, twisting their position so River is on top, sitting atop Ly’s waist as they hover over the carpet. Ly stretches, resting their hands behind their head, and River averts his eyes as their hoodie rides up a little, showing a strip of skin underneath it. There’s a short pause as Ly regards him, eyes flashing blue again as they study him, looking him up and down. “Do you not like heights? Is that a human thing?”

River hesitates. “Uh... no, like you said, we aren’t really that high.”

Ly squints, their arms stretching further and hoodie riding up more. “Then why are you nervous? You aren’t making eye contact, your face has turned a shade of red, and I can hear your heart pounding from here. Those are signs of some form of anxiety in humans, right? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s... wrong.” River wrings his hands as best he can, playing with his fingers while still holding Ly’s waist to keep his balance. “I wasn’t expecting...”

To meet an alien. 

To live with an alien. 

To fall in love with an alien. 

“...to be picked up.”

Ly blinks. “Do you want me to put us down?”

“No, it’s-” River bites his lip. “It’s okay.”

There’s another pause as Lyceum stares at him again, reaching one hand up to lace their fingers through his, staring at their entwined hands in fascination. “I don’t really understand you.”

River snorts. “I don’t understand _you._”

Ly smiles, the blue aura around them pulsing with happiness. “I like humans, though. I like you.”

“I like you too,” River says, voice softening a little, and he tilts his head down to match Lyceum’s gaze at their joined hands. It’s silent again, aside from soft breathing, but there’s something hanging in the air. River can tell, there’s something there that neither of them are saying, something that neither of them wants to be the first to admit, and he furrows his brow as he tries to figure out how to say it. 

“You know what love is, right?” It’s probably a stupid question. Ly is an alien, sure, but even aliens must have love. Love, hatred, happiness, sadness, safety, fear. They aren’t limited to humans. Ly _has_ to know what it is. River doesn’t think he could explain it to them, if they don’t. He doesn’t think he would be able to put into words all the ways that he cares about Lyceum, all the little things that he knows about them, from peanut butter and hoodies to glowing eyes and freckles, all those facts and feelings stored away somewhere deep inside his brain, in a box that he’s only just become willing to unlock.

They have to know what love is. 

He thinks they love him back. 

“Of course,” they say, and River breathes a sigh of relief. 

“Good.” He squeezes Ly’s hand once, twice, three times, and leans down towards them, searching their face for whatever emotion they’re feeling. “Follow up question. Have you ever felt it?”

Ly raises their eyebrows. “What’s this for?”

“Call it scientific research.”

“Mm. Sounds very scientific, Mr Scientist.”

“You’re an alien who apparently lives off of peanut butter, which you usually insist on stealing. I think we’re past the point of regular research.”

Ly laughs, lifting them both a little higher up in the air, and River’s balance on them wobbles a little as they shoot up, their eyes closing as they smile. 

“And that’s-”

“That’s Dr Scientist to me?” Ly finishes, and they open their eyes with another smile. “You’ve said that to me before.”

“Glad to see you’re catching on, ET.”

Ly pokes River’s cheek, gently floating them downwards until their back hits the seat of the sofa, River still sat comfortably on top of them. “I have felt it,” they say, and their voice drops to a whisper, as though they’re telling River some great secret that they thought they’d always have to keep to themself. “With you.”

River kisses them. It’s short and sweet, over almost as quickly as it began, and he digs his teeth into his bottom lip nervously as he sits up, with Ly staring up at him. He can almost hear their thoughts, hear everything inside of them whir and operate and calculate, as if there’s coding in their mind that’s trying to tell them what to do and say next. 

They kiss him back. 

It’s short again, quick and messy, like neither of them are fully sure exactly how to do it, but they fit themselves together perfectly anyway before pulling away, watching each other as they both breathe hard. 

One second. 

Two.

Three. 

“I’m glad you got me this hoodie,” Ly says. One hand plays with the drawstring of it, their other hand holding onto River’s once again. “If this is what it led to. Did you get sufficient answers to your research on the topic of falling in love?”

“Yeah,” River says, and Ly’s cheeks glow along with their eyes, but it’s impossible for any of the blue light to outshine the brightness of their smile. “I think I did.”

**Author's Note:**

> y’all know the drill it’s 2am, im gay, and im tired as fuck


End file.
